BANGALORE: Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa will be skipping the BJP national executive meet starting from Thursday in Mumbai as a mark of “protest against the party’s national leaders” for failing to keep their promise to reinstate him as CM.
This is for the first time in 24 years that Yeddyurappa is giving a miss to the all-important national executive meet though he, as a former CM, is a permanent invitee.
On the other hand CM D V Sadanand Gowda, state BJP president K S Eshwarappa, BJP national general secretary H N Ananthkumar, ministers Jagadish Sureshkumar, Karjol, state BJP organising secretary Santhosh and MLC Vijayashankar will be participating in the two-day meet.
The meeting is expected to discuss problems plaguing many of its state units including Karnataka. According to sources, the meet would take up Karnataka issue for discussion as Assembly elections are just a year away, and it cannot afford to keep alive the infighting.
Yeddyurappa, however, is keen to see his well-wisher Nitin Gadkari getting a second term as party’s national president as he thinks such a development would help him resurrect his sagging image in the party, if not fulfil his ambition of becoming the CM again.
The meet is expected to endorse a second term for Gadkari overlooking the under-cover opposition from a section of party’s top brass.
Like Yeddyurappa, many in the state BJP also believe that the second term for Gadkari would help solve the problems in the state BJP. According to them, though Gadkari wants take a firm decision on Yeddyurappa, his hands are tied as party’s national leaders are divided over Karnataka problems.
“If Gadkari gets a second chance, we think he would certainly assert his authority and take a decision,” they said.
“Unless the party takes a firm decision on Yeddyurappa, the problems in the state BJP are bound to continue. The national leaders also know it. But a lack of unity among them is stopping them from taking action,” said a senior minister.